Packer Cuts

[Lurker64]

OK, judging from the paper's web sites and their Twitter accounts, somehow its becoming conventional wisdom that the Packers are short on D lineman with six on the roster.

They have one more PS slot that has not been announced, if I am reading correctly. If that is filled with a D lineman, are they not in the same situation as last year when Toribio was on the PS?

Or is Justin Harrell making people nervous?

We are not short on D Linemen, on the roster at least. 3-4 teams conventionally keep 6 on the roster, and dress 5 on game days. Last year we kept Jenkins, Pickett, Jolly, Raji, Montgomery, and Jarius Wynn. Generally either Wynn or Montgomery was inactive. This year, we're keeping Jenkins, Raji, Pickett, Neal, Harrell, and Wilson. Presumably Wilson will be inactive on game days.

We could add a guy to the practice squad, to fill the role that Talley had last year. Toribio was on the PS as an NT, and I think we need to stockpile DEs more than we need to stockpile NTs.

People might be thinking that we have less depth than last year because last year we had Harrell on IR and this year he's playing... but this year we have Jolly on the Reserved/Suspended list, and he's just as available as Harrell was last year!

Totally irrational that people are worrying about the defensive line depth. It's just fine.

[Fritz]

I sense the usual media hand-wringing over Thompson's choices as I read the articles in the JSO and GBPG today. It's not a perfect roster, for sure, but I don't quite understand the panic over having "only" two running backs. To my mind, Kuhn is the third running back. He's played that position in college and has practiced there.

Since I've been reading all summer about the vast improvements of Jones and Nelson at wide receiver, I'm willing to give Nelson the chance to show he's improved on kickoff and punt returns, too. Hang on to the ball, go straight upfield, and take it from there.

We'll see. Ted kept some young, inexperienced bucks for sure. But somebody's got to be inactive on game day. How about this for a partial list of who that might be this year, barring injury:

Newhouse
Quarless
McDonald
Lee or Underwear

??

And by the way, what's up with the intense, sudden Giaco love? Both teams, the Packers and Vikings, want him more than I want Drew Barrymore....yet neither one was willing to give the dude a roster spot. What the heck is this about?

[pbmax]

We'll see. Ted kept some young, inexperienced bucks for sure. But somebody's got to be inactive on game day. How about this for a partial list of who that might be this year, barring injury:

Newhouse
Quarless
McDonald
Lee or Underwear

??

And by the way, what's up with the intense, sudden Giaco love? Both teams, the Packers and Vikings, want him more than I want Drew Barrymore....yet neither one was willing to give the dude a roster spot. What the heck is this about?

Tackles are hard to come by and if you can pickup a backup and weaken a rival, I think the Vikings like that strategy. But the odds of Breno making have to be slim after 3 years.

As for inactives, I cannot say for the rest of the team, but I do remember eight O lineman being the game day actives. So Clifton, Colledge, Wells, Sitton, Tauscher plus Bulaga (LT,LG), Spitz (G,C) and Lang (RT, G). So I think Newhouse and McDonald are definitely the inactives there.

[Lurker64]

Yeah, the 8 inactives are definitely going to contain 2 OL (presumably McDonald and Newhouse) and 1 DL (presumably Wilson). The other five are going to come down to special teams responsibilities. There'll probably be one TE on there (Crabtree or Quarless), but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Patler]

I thought Bedard's article was a bit over board in subtle criticism of the cuts made and TT's "performance" at the press conference.

I watched the video replay, and sensed none of the "attitude" that Bedard attributed to TT. He was his usual guarded self, but he made several jokes about their questions and comments.

As to Bedard's article:

The tile is just stupid (I know, Bedard is likely not responsible for the title, so this is not directed at him, but JS generally.) "Thompson Defends Packers' Choices". Did they expect him not to? By using "defends" it implies something was wrong with the choices and needed to be "defended". Why not "discusses", "explains", "analyzes" or some other such description?

He states that with Super Bowl aspirations, "Thompson and Co. better be right about the roster decisions they made." Isn't This always the case?

The article would make more sense if it then discussed proven contributors being released in favor of new, inexperienced players. But are we really supposed to wring our hands over losing the experience that Barbre provided? He proved he can't play anywhere. Beside, he's injured. Or Giacomini? what was lost there? If the criticism was that neither was traded, like Moll was last year, that's easy to understand with just a little thought. Who would give anything for Barbre when he's hurt? Would anyone even give anything for him when healthy? Simply put, Moll was better so a trade was possible. As to Giacomini, the Packers didn't want to give him a way cheaply, they seem interested in giving him more time via the PS. They preferred to keep him.

Next we are to worry about the loss of Havner, a 3rd string TE. Where better to give a young player a chance to develop than by replacing a 3rd stringer?

My God, they cut a marginal performer at #3 RB. How ever will they replace Lumpkin if Jackson or Grant go out for an extended time? The experience he has from those two games he played two years ago, and that 1 carry he had certainly will be missed!. You can't find any old FA with that background!

He comments about Quinn Johnson not being active last year for late season games, after recounting TT's comments about the usefulness QJ can have late in the season. Two things - Might not Johnson have improved as a second year player? Using Kuhn as the #3 RB allows MM to carry all 3 FBs on the game day roster, something they didn't always feel they could afford to do last year.

Those wily old veterans, Cyril Obiozor and Evan Dietrich-Smith were let go in favor of Zombo and McDonald. As to the linemen, with Bulaga, Spitz and Lang; McDonald, Newhouse, EDS nor anyone else will not be active on game days anyway, and if injuries necessitate making them active, it will take four injuries to get them into a game. I have a hard time worrying about the loss of EDS.

Obiozor? Mostly a PS guy from last year? Am I really supposed to worry about the loss of him for anyone? I don't dislike the guy, but should I be concerned that Zombo is such a risk compared to Obiozor?

Toribio? Sounds like a great guy. Might have been a good guy to have around. But he has no experience, seems to be strictly a NT, and you can keep only 53.

Blackmon? He's hurt and can't help you anyway right now. I'm sure TT would have been glad to keep him had he been healthy. But what good does it do to have a returnman who isn't active on game days? TT is criticized for keeping Justin Harrell around, and for letting Blackmon go. While he has played more games, Blackmon's injury history is no better than Harrell's.

He concludes with comments about the age and inexperience of the team, but who was cut that had experience? Blackmon and Barbre, both injured. The rest were basically one year guys or rookies anyway (except Havner). Besides, this age/experience thing is a bit of a red herring. The difference between "young" and "old" teams amounts to a few months, and while overall young, the Packers last year had one of the more experienced starting lineups.

[hoosier]

Bedard claims not to be a Packer fan, and he is absolutely right that fan-dom and professional journalism are incompatible. But then why do his journalistic pieces increasingly sound like the comments of an anti-TT Packer fan?

[falco]

Bedard claims not to be a Packer fan, and he is absolutely right that fan-dom and professional journalism are incompatible. But then why do his journalistic pieces increasingly sound like the comments of an anti-TT Packer fan?

Hmm, good point. Almost seems as though some of the people here could be writing those articles.

Perhaps Bedard is in our midst?

[Fritz]

When I read the coaches' comments on Toribio, I was reminded of another thread here - about those NFL players who can carve out a career as a permanent backup due to their willingness to do anything and their excellent attitudes. And while that's nice, nothing in the coaches' comments suggested that Toribio would develop into a player. He is what he is - a backup, a nice guy who works hard.

Some of the angst over TT not making a claim might be the grass-is-always-greener complex. The Pittsburgh return guy who was let go seemed enticing - but first the Lions picked him up anyway, and second, return guys often don't need too too much development - and Pittsburgh cut him. Not like cutting a defensive tackle like Gilbert Brown was cut - he needed seasoning.

Maybe the disappointment was in the lack of a trade. You know Ted and his reluctance to give up future picks....(Ryan Grant, please).

I'm still puzzled by the border war over Giaco. He seems to have sucked butt regularly in the pre-season. My first thought was that I'd love to see the guy in a purple uni, playing right tackle lined up against Pickett or Neal or whomever on a third-and-twelve.

As for the "Thompson better be right" I'm curious as to whom he'd be wrong about. Is Spencer Havner going to become a star linebacker or tight end? Will Lumpkin become a 1200 yard rusher now? (And is Kuhn that much worse as a #3 halfback?). Weird, weird article. The tone of it, at least, is odd.

[imscott72]

I think Bedard was more puzzled by the lack of claims than anything else. I'd be interested in seeing how many claims Ted has made over the years, but it does seem odd he wouldn't even make one claim. Really there isn't one single player that is an upgrade over what we have from all the cuts?

[vince]

Chris Bryan signed with the Bucs and is on their 53-man roster.

RB James Johnson fills out the Packer practice squad.

[Brando19]

The Packers reached a settlement and officially released RB Porter and S Blackmon.

[vince]

Fritz and Patler

+1

[Lurker64]

The Packers reached a settlement and officially released RB Porter and S Blackmon.

What exactly is the reason for teams to reach injury settlements for guys on IR? The guys on IR don't occupy roster spots, after all. Is it just an issue of "we're totally done with you, we don't want you hanging around using up our resources" or do teams do it because a guy you put on IR for an injury that will not cost him the entire season that you later cut with an injury settlement can be resigned mid-season once healthy?

[falco]

The Packers reached a settlement and officially released RB Porter and S Blackmon.

What exactly is the reason for teams to reach injury settlements for guys on IR? The guys on IR don't occupy roster spots, after all. Is it just an issue of "we're totally done with you, we don't want you hanging around using up our resources" or do teams do it because a guy you put on IR for an injury that will not cost him the entire season that you later cut with an injury settlement can be resigned mid-season once healthy?

Hmm... I wonder if there a risk that if you put them on IR when they could play later in the year, the player could make noise about it and cause issues. In this case, you are giving them the chance to re-sign somewhere else.

[Fred's Slacks]

The Packers reached a settlement and officially released RB Porter and S Blackmon.

What exactly is the reason for teams to reach injury settlements for guys on IR? The guys on IR don't occupy roster spots, after all. Is it just an issue of "we're totally done with you, we don't want you hanging around using up our resources" or do teams do it because a guy you put on IR for an injury that will not cost him the entire season that you later cut with an injury settlement can be resigned mid-season once healthy?

Not stating as fact here but I think its purely financial. A player on IR still recieves their whole salary. But if you can reach an injury settlement, you only pay them a portion and then the player will be free to go elsewhere after the length of the settlement is complete.